Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith has confirmed Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor have no chance of playing for Scotland under the current regime.

Smith was reported to have opened the door for the Rangers pair to return earlier this month when he phoned a BBC Scotland radio programme to clarify they had not been given life bans. McGregor and Ferguson were cast aside from the national team after a lengthy drinking session and subsequent gestures to cameras while on Scotland duty for the World Cup double header against Holland and Iceland.

And Smith clarified he did not see any way back for the pair while he and Scotland manager George Burley are in charge. "No, I never did," Smith said. "I don't remember mentioning anything about a spirit of reconciliation."

He added: "I said there was always a possibility that somebody in the future might decide to change that decision."

"The point I was trying to make was that everybody kept saying it was a life ban. You can't do life bans in football terms so therefore you can't say it was a life ban.

"What we're saying is they will not be chosen again for the national team and we stick by that.

"Someone said 'can you ever see that changing?' Well, if you say it can't ever change you effectively are saying it's a life ban.

"It's not a life ban but I don't see any situation where it is going to change in the near future."